Dell EMC workers tackle trash along Boston Marathon course

Friday

Apr 6, 2018 at 7:16 PMApr 11, 2018 at 6:11 PM

HOPKINTON — Armed with trash bags and good spirits, a crew of 30 employees from Dell EMC cleared litter along the Boston Marathon course Friday morning.

John Saparnis, who has worked for the company for 20 years and lives in Southborough, said this is the first time he's volunteered to pick up refuse along a roadway. The tech giant teamed up with nonprofit, Keep Massachusetts Beautiful, to help the town's Department of Public Works with its spring cleanup before the big race.

"You drive by and it doesn't look that bad," he said. "But when you get up close it's like, 'There it is.' Surprisingly, one of the big things is nip bottles."

The group collected approximately 30 bags of litter, weighing a total of about 600 pounds, during the three-hour service project, according to Neil Rhein, founder and executive director of the all-volunteer organization. The mission is to make Massachusetts a cleaner, greener place to live, work, and play, according to its website.

"We were looking for a kickoff for our Great Massachusetts Cleanup. What better spring event is there than the Marathon?" Rhein said. "You are going to have people from all over the world descending on Hopkinton."

Another group of 30 will clean parts of Ashland next week.

"We could have used all 60 people today," Rhein said. Calling it a "monumental task" to clean along the roads, he hopes to have similar events in all 351 cities and towns across the state.

"As you can see it is a mess out here," he said. "The DPWs across the state just don't have the manpower to deal with it."

Using a trash picker, Jill Dadmun of Mansfield, who works in Dell's Franklin facility, also took on picking up trash for the first time. She thinks a lot of the items inadvertently fly off work trucks.

She saw cans, bottles, nips, pieces of cars and lots of cigarette butts.

"When the road gets a little bit busy we'll kind of just work it onto the street and we'll have the person with the bag stand there," she said. "We don't want to put anybody in danger. We are picking up the most obvious, big pieces."

Each of the six groups covered about a mile and a half of Rte. 135.

"I think it is a great thing," she said of the company's commitment to community service. "We do so many different types of volunteerism. This one is a dirty job, but it's a good job."

Dell also signed on as an associate sponsor of the 2018 Great Massachusetts Cleanup with a $2,500 donation. Rhein said he's grateful for the Dell EMC crew.

"I think it is great they give their employees paid time off to do community service," he said.

Jonathan Phelps can be reached at 508-626-4338 or jphelps@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @JPhelps_MW.